It’s that time of year again...Alaskan King Crab time! In preparation for this feast I ate only a small lunch this afternoon, and wore yoga pants to the restaurant for expandability.

King Crabs ($18.00 per pound)

The two crabs are respectively 9 lbs and 8.75 lbs. The above pricing includes the preparation of these lovely crustaceans in three courses: steamed, fried, and a rice dish. (The crab alone is $15.80 per pound.) We added a fourth course, the noodle dish, which is extra. Here are my lil' buddies in the last moments of their life.

Steamed Garlic King Crab Legs

The two crabs make four platters of steamed legs. The garlic is present but not overpowering. It’s redundant to say it is fresh, but that’s exactly how it tastes: clean and fresh. I have to admit, it’s a lot of work to get the meat out. This is not a lazy man’s feast.

The meat is succulent especially with some extra steamed crab juices drizzled on top. Yes, it’s a bit finicky, but worth the effort.

Garlic Pepper Fried King Crab Body

I like this. It has a lot of peppery flavour. It’s kinda like eating fried chicken.

Portuguese Style Curried Rice in King Crab Carapace

I’m not entirely sure if Western Lake calls this Portuguese style or not but it’s pretty darn similar. Very mild curry and creamy rice with potatoes and seafood baked in the crab shell.

Egg White and Scallop Rice in King Crab Carapace

The rice here is much more subtle. It isn’t baked and tastes much lighter with egg whites and seafood. Also the rice is "drier" if that makes sense, it doesn’t have the creaminess of the curry version.

Yee Mein with King Crab Juices($12.80)

It looks pretty basic and blah doesn’t it? They take the left over steamed juices from cooking the king crab and mix it in with noodles. So good. I think I enjoyed this more than the rice.

Baked Tapioca with Taro

This is a warm super rich tapioca dessert. I love the crust on baked tapioca. I’ve never had tapioca with taro. I’ve only had it with red bean. It’s smooth and sweet but not as sweet as the red bean version. The taro looks a bit like pork in the photo, no?

Sweet Red Bean Soup

The proverbial red bean dessert soup. I like red bean soup. It’s a bit runnier than what I’m used to but still okay. This dessert has peanuts in it too. I’m not sure if I’m lovin’ the peanuts.

This was a very satisfying king crab dinner at Western Lake. The two crustaceans turned out to be the perfect amount of food. I didn’t need to wear my yoga pants afterall. I wasn’t overly full, just very content.

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